


Finding Company in Sleep

by rosarmio



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Insomniac Dave Strider, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Napping, POV Dave Strider, Sleepy Cuddles, Tickle Fights, davekat - Freeform, like mild as fuck, milder than white people salsa, narcoleptic karkat vantas, thats not me projecting what are you talking about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29091600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosarmio/pseuds/rosarmio
Summary: Your name is DAVE STRIDER and it has been way too long since you’ve slept.***In which Dave Strider has insomnia, and he begins to realize how lonely it is to be awake. Fortunately, narcoleptic Karkat Vantas is good company.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 7
Kudos: 76





	Finding Company in Sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gonta_gokuhara_lover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gonta_gokuhara_lover/gifts).



> wrote this for my s/o (and myself, an insomniac, because im a slut for davekat) who is narcoleptic , but this is really cute and i have decided to bless the internet with it anyway . enjoy .

Your name is DAVE STRIDER and it has been way too long since you’ve slept. 

In all honesty, there’s nothing you can do about that. Gotta stay on your feet or whatever. You don’t really mind it, other than the fact that Karkat keeps nagging you about it. 

Speaking of, he enters the kitchen just as you pour yourself the third coffee of the day. “What the hell are you doing in the meal block? You should be in bed, nookwipe.”

You examine him from where he’s standing; the doorway. His hair is messy, more than it usually is. There are bags under his eyes, and said eyes almost seem… puffy? Has he been crying? He seems groggy. Then again, when does he not?

“Dude there literally isn’t time on this rock. Why the hell aren’t you in bed? You seem like you’re about to become the Olympic Champion of not sleeping. Gold metal and all. Go on, bite into it Karkles,” You wave a waffle in his direction, pretending it’s a gold medal, “See if it’s real gold!” 

Karkat just stares at you, unamused. “I just woke up. I’m just grabbing something.”

Oh. Now he seems short. Is he upset? 

“What’s wrong?”

He ignores you, grabbing a heating pad and tossing it into the microwave. The fuck does he need that for? 

No. No fucking way. You know Rose uses those for period cramps. Is Karkat on his troll man period? Trolls have weird anatomy, you’ve learned that from the romance novels Karkat reads. So… it could be possible that

“You’ve been quiet way too long for my liking. What the hell is going on in your thinkpan?” Karkat snaps you out of your thoughts. 

Stifling a laugh, you just shake your head. “Nothing, don’t worry ‘bout it Karbabe. I’m fine. I’m as fine as they come, finer than one of those real small Sharpies they sell at the craft stores.”

He sighs and takes the heating pad from out of the microwave. Is it really a microwave? It’s more of just… a heating cube. Heating cubes can also be ovens, though. 

Heating cube mini? An oven would be a heating cube original. Or maybe microwaves are the regular size and ovens are heating cubes max?

Oh, coffee’s done. You drink it black, better to just down it and get it over with than spend a hassle trying to make it taste half-decent. 

“That looks nasty,” Karkat states, shutting the microwave. 

“It is nasty.” You down half the mug. 

Karkat stares in confusion, then turns to leave, sighing, “Humans are fucking weird.”

***

You haven’t seen Karkat since then. It’s been seventy-three hours, nineteen minutes, and forty-two seconds as of now since you last saw him. 

Working on Can Town without Karkat is really boring. The mayor is great, seriously, you love that little guy, he’s sick as fuck, but he’s no Karkat. You miss snappy remarks and audible eye-rolls. You just miss Karkat. 

Rose said it was probably best to leave him be. “He’s likely just seeking some alone time. He has been through a lot, you know.” That’s what she said. She’s right, he probably is wanting alone time. 

But you are an asshole, and you are lonely, and you are going to ruin his alone time. 

You knock on his door, of course, because you are a polite asshole. There’s no response, so you start to worry he might be dead. 

Why would he be dead? That’s ridiculous. 

Then again, there is a literal homicidal clown dwelling in the vents. 

So yeah no he might be dead. 

Entering his room, you see him lying in his bed, curled into a ball, shivering under his blanket.

Not dead, that’s good. You’d be pretty fucking upset if he was. Being the only sane dude on this meteor would suck ass. You love the ladies (Other than Vriska. Bitch.) but you gotta say, having Karkat here makes it a lot easier. 

You approach him. He’s asleep. That’d make sense, it seems.

Well, now you’re just standing here. Chillin’ in some troll guy’s room while he sleeps. Not weird at all. No, he’s definitely not gonna yell at you when he wakes up. 

And wake up he does. Violently. He gasps awake, eyes wide. Nightmare, probably. 

He turns to look at you with wide eyes. “What are you doing in my respite block? Seriously Dave this is an invasion of privacy.” Despite his words, he doesn’t sound too harsh. He sounds like he’s still tired, and he winces. 

“I wanted to make sure you were okay, dude. Chill. But seriously what’s up? It’s been a hot fucking minute.”

Karkat just lies there with this slightly annoyed look on his face, but you feel like he might be glad to see you. He rolls over in his bed and you sit down next to him. “I’m just tired,” He mumbles, and for some reason, you don’t really doubt what he says.

“That’s alright dude. No worries. Let's hang out though, you need social interaction or you’ll like… combust.” You flop down onto his bed and let out a small laugh and you nudge him. 

He nudges you back. “Can we watch a movie?” Karkat’s eyes plead up at you and you sigh, knowing damn well it’s gonna be a sappy rom-com with weird troll sex, but you give in anyway. 

Before you can start to regret it, there’s a troll woman on the screen writing poetry in some weird building. Like a coffee shop but for trolls and a bit less appealing. Karkat narrates everything to you while you watch the horrible acting on screen.

“That’s Rostan, he’s the red love interest and personally I think he’s a shit choice. Joquex would be way better in the red quadrant with her childhood best friend, she’ll be introduced later don’t worry.”

As usual, you just nod. You sorta listen, you’re not an asshole, but you mostly just let Karkat’s voice float around you. It’s nice. 

Eventually, Karkat starts crying. You try and figure out what it is on screen making him cry and you cannot figure it out for the life of you. Some troll was culled or whatever but that’s all you can figure out.

“Karkaaaat,” You whine, leaning onto him. He pushes you around. 

“Stop it, bulgemouth! Get off!” 

The two of you go back and forth pushing one another around. Karkat actually even smiles, it’s nice. He’s got a nice smile, you wish you could see it more often.

A shove knocks you onto your back and he wrestles to get on top of you. “Haha! Got you, Strider! Let’s see you try and- Augh!” You grab his elbow and roll the two of you around so you’re hovered over him.

You laugh at the frustrated crease in his brow as his cheeks flush. It’s cute. He’s cute. In a totally normal and heterosexual way of course. 

“Don’t claim victory before you’ve got it Karkitty.”

He tries to grab at you but you’ve got him pinned. “C’mon, man. Where’s that smile from before?” You tease, and his flush grows darker, but no smile. You smirk as an idea hits you. 

While he’s distracted, you softly tickle at his nubby little horns with your free hand, and before you know it, he’s erupting with laughter. 

“St- Ah! Stop! I’m... too tired- tired for this!” He laughs and gasps for breath and you get to see his smile again and it’s so nice and

Your shades fall directly onto his face. “Ack! Shit!” Karkat yelps, grabbing your shades and wincing in pain. “What the fuck, Stri- Oh.”

He’s looking directly at your eyes, and you’re realizing he hasn’t seen them before. Ever. You can’t decide between thinking he’s gonna call you a freak or thinking he’s gonna smack you upside the head.

Neither of those things happen. He stares in awe, then gently places them back onto your face. You slide off of him, and he sits up. It’s silence, and not the comfortable kind. 

Karkat doesn’t even watch the movie, he just looks at you, mouth agape in confusion or shock, or… maybe he thinks they’re weird?

“I like them.”

You turn to face him again, puzzled. “Like… what?”

He’s got that flushed look again. The corners of his mouth are slightly turned up and his eyebrows are furrowed in concentration, like he’s trying to remember. “Uh… your eyes. They’re bright. It’s nice.”

Your heart stops for a moment. Now your cheeks are flushed too. Once again, in a totally normal and heterosexual way. 

“Oh. Thanks.”

Karkat twiddles his thumbs for a moment, yawns, and then lets out a deep breath. “I should probably go back to sleep. I’m tired.” He lies down, and you start to get up before he stops you. “You can hang out in here if you wanna.”

You just nod because you think if you tried to talk your voice might crack. 

He’s out before you know it. Seeing him asleep makes you sleepy. How long has it been since you slept?

Two days, three? You know that you’re tired. That’s all. 

You lie down and close your eyes. Maybe you can fall asleep. No, wait. That’s rude. This isn’t your room, not your bed. You should leave. Give him some privacy, jeez. 

It’s best to give him some space. You get up and leave. As you walk back to your room, you don’t see anyone else on the meteor, or even hear Terezi and Vriska cackling from wherever they are. 

Your room is dark. That’s nice. Your room being dark is calming. Less room for distractions. You flop onto your bed and take off your shades.

It’s time to sleep, Strider. Go the fuck to sleep. You’re tired, you know that you’re tired. Your eyes are closed and everything, just go to bed already. Count sheep. One, two, three, four, fuck this is useless. 

You flip over onto your side, yawning. Yawning, that is an obvious fucking sign that you are tired, so why the hell can’t you just sleep already? 

Reaching up to touch your face, you feel right below your eyes. Eye bags. You can tell by just feeling them. Ha, and you had the nerve to comment on Karkat’s. Hypocrite.

Karkat. Hm. You think Karkat would yell at you if he knew how long you’d been awake. Rose would too but she would just be a bitch about it. You can imagine it already.

“You are not sleeping? Is this by chance because of your unresolved trauma about blah blah horseshit?” That’s how it could go and you’d be like “no actually its cause i cant fucking ever sleep despite being tired this has nothing to do with that. you just think everything about me is caused by my unresolved trauma” and that’s how it would go.

Because it isn’t about that. Like sure okay the shit you went through does effect your sleeping and shit but… in more of a way of like nightmares and how you position yourself when lying down. 

This is just not being able to sleep. No mater how tired you are, it takes ages to just get an hour or so in, and then boom, you’re awake again and you’re exhausted but your body just… won’t let you sleep. 

Fuck, and it’s so lonely being awake for so long. That might be the worst part. The loneliness. The loneliness and the fact that you know you’re tired. But you just can’t.

***

A few hours go by and no sleep comes. Not really a surprise, but a disappointment nonetheless. You’ve shifted your position in bed, stuck your leg out, changed the side of the pillow, everything. At this point everything that was once sitting on your bed has fallen onto the floor. 

Karkat stands in the space of your doorframe, suddenly. You groan, exhausted, and turn over to look at him better. “Oh. Hi Karkat. ‘Sup?”

He’s huddled up in a blanket, but is shivering anyway. “You left.”

“What?

“You left while I was asleep. I got lonely. So I’m gonna nap in here.” He shuffles toward your bed and lies down next to you. Like, right next to you. Your bed is smaller than his, so there’s not a whole lot of room anyway for just you. 

Of course, you don’t argue as he does this. You just let him. In a totally normal and heterosexual way.

He turns to face you, eyelids dropping down as he lets out a small cat-like yawn. “You look tired, too.” He reaches a hand up and gently rubs his thumb on one of your eyebags. Your stomach flips a total of four times.

“Yeah. I’m sorta sleepy I guess. Don’t worry ‘bout it man.”

He frowns, his brows furrowing into that signature Karkat look. “You should nap with me. Your eyebags are worse than mine.” He doesn’t move his had after he says that, and your face feels really hot. You think he can tell, because his lips turn upwards a bit.

You don’t respond. You know you won’t be able to sleep. 

“How long has it been since you last slept?” He asks, and you sigh and shrug. He frowns, then curls into you a bit, his head against your upper chest, just below your chin, and he wraps an arm around you. “I’m sorry. You deserve sleep.”

For once, you feel comfortable. Safe. Cared for. It’s nice. You wrap your arm around Karkat, pulling him a bit closer. 

“You’re warm, it’s nice. Makes the pain better.”

“Pain?”

He adjusts a bit, but stays in his general position. “Mhm. My muscles hurt. And my joints. Everything, kinda.”

You hold him a bit tighter, now understanding why he was wincing earlier, why he just seems irritated or pained often. “I’m sorry.” You think for a second or two. “Can I help in any way?” 

He shakes his head, you can’t see, but you can feel him doing so. “Nuh-uh. Just,” He yawns, “stay with me.”

Running a hand through his hair, he seems to relax into you. It’s comforting. He smells nice. In a weirdly feminine way. Like… flowers? Does he use women’s soap? Holy shit that’s hilarious.

Hilarious and… really cute. 

To be honest, you don’t know if it’s in a normal and heterosexual way. Like maybe in a more than friends type of way. 

Let's not think about that right now. Just play with Karkat’s hair. It’s soft. You know he values hygiene because he has forced you to clean your room and shower way too many times. 

He starts to let out this low purring sound. It sorta makes you double-take. Like, woah. He sounds like a cat. It’s cute. Karkat. Karcat. Kittykat. Haha, you’ll have to call him that when he wakes up.

***

You have no idea when you fell asleep, but when you wake up, Karkat is still lying down against you, but he’s awake, playing with the fabric of your god-tier pajamas. He notices you’re awake rather quickly. “Oh, good morning.”

That’s when it hits you. You fell asleep. Like, you actually slept. A smile creeps onto your face and you sleepily let out a soft laugh. “‘Mornin’, Kittykat,” You mumble and he looks up at you, wide-eyed and red-faced. 

“What the everloving shit did you just call me?” 

Ah, same old Karkat as always. You ruffle his hair and he pouts, but you see a grin behind his big grey eyes. They’re cute. He’s cute. You’ve got some thinking to do, you think. 

But you can think about that later. Right now, you just want to lay here with Karkat rambling at you about a troll romance novel, listening to the sound of his voice when he gets really passionate, and how he shushes himself when he’s talking shit on a character.

Right now, you’re happy and rested. You’ve got Karkat, and that’s all you need for now.


End file.
